Educate a child is a project which was started in Kalutara in 1984. Currently there are eight hundred and seventy two children enrolled in the project. These children are from very poor homes. Their parents are unable to send their children to school because they are unable to provide them the shoes, uniforms, writing books, pens, pencils, paints boxes of mathematical instruments etc that a child needs to enable him/her to attend school and obtain the “free” education provided by the government. The ages of these children range from school entry level (6 years) to A levels (17 + years). All the children in the project live in the Kalutara district. They go to one of eleven schools in the Kalutara area. This is the 20th year of this project.

Although public education is free in Sri Lanka, children are required to provide their own uniforms, books, pencils, sometimes even desks, and they must wear shoes. Many families cannot afford these items. The impoverished Kalutara region of Sri Lanka is just one area where far too many kids are denied the opportunity of a formal education because their families cannot afford it.

The Educate A Child Project sponsors almost 900 of these children by supplying them with the tools needed to attend school in and around Kalutara.

There are currently more than 100 students attending our after-school English and Computer programs. Sixty students are learning English skills and 45 are learning computer skills. Classes are taught six days a week, with twelve sessions of English and six computer sessions.

In addition we are providing special classes for 70 to 80 promising students prior to their taking the public examinations that determine whether and where they can continue their studies.